Introduction:
The global geopolitical terrain is repleted with varied challenges spanning politics, economics, social and brazenly war-related expeditions, dislodging and defacing human dignity and peaceful co-existence, in contrast to international law principles, including the “Universal” Constitution of the world- the United Nations (UN) Charter. Specifically, Article 2 (4) of the UN Charter categorically frowns upon the “use of threats and aggressive actions by one country against any other member- state of the UN. However, notwithstanding the impact of the socio-economic destructions stirring the world, consequent of the ensuing wars in the Iran and Middle-East, the Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV and the entire Church, have been drawn into the messy and unsavoury foreign policy of the United States of America’s (USA), further complicating the crisis and pushing the world into quagmire. With that framing, this blog examines audacity of morality as an abiding principle of leadership, the absence of which has emboldened the genocide, socio-economic destructions and human miseries being perpetrated across the globe with the cameras rolling.
Audacity of Morality in Leadership
The Cambridge English Dictionary simply defines audacity as “courage or confidence of a kind that other people consider shocking or rude.” Over the centuries, humanity has witnessed and experienced dosages of good developments in healthcare delivery stemming from innovative technologies, socioeconomic wellbeing out of creative-strategic policies as well as political liberty/freedom, originating from moral courage or audacity. Some classical illustrations of this moral audacity are found in the coalition built against Adolf Hitler’s carnage against Jews in Germany on May 8, 1945, NATO’s intervention in Yugoslavia on June 10, 1999 and the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG)’s intervention in Liberia from August 1990 until February 1998, just to state but few examples. Undoubtedly, these intervention strategies were not perfect, however, they prioritised human dignity which reflected a sense of moral audacity that gained popular international support and approval. In converse to good conscience and emerged megalomania traits of Trump and Netanyahu on the global plane, there is palpable silence and refusal by the international community to hold these leaders accountable in perpetrating genocide and related-crimes against humanity as ensuing in Gaza, West Bank and more glaringly the Iran debacle. The adage that “a popular view is not always right” resonates with the viewpoint of this blog – that audacity of morality is needed more urgently among political leaders of the contemporary geopolitical era, to speak out against the sponsorship and promotion of unprovoked wars in the Middle-East, parts of Africa and Latin America. Specifically, the Prime Minister of Spain, Mr Pedro Sanchez, the Irish Prime minister and currently, Pope Leo XIV, have merited the badge – audacity of morality. These leaders have underscored one cardinal virtue of the human society without fear of reprisals, securing personal gains or false acclamation. This signifies moral audacity, which emboldened Churchill and his allied friends to organise against Hitler. Why then is the entire world in cold silence with the USA and Israel fomenting human and socio-economic crimes that have the capacity of derailing the fabric and sustenance of the world? The more silent world leaders remain of the ensuing carnage in the Middle-East the more complicit they become of the genocidal acts and crimes against humanity unfolding thereof. The disappearance of this moral virtue among world leaders in speaking out against the afore-stated wars would not only create an insipid precedent for other powerful leaders to replicate the deeds of the US and Isreal, but continue to fragment the multipolar world system which is anchored in International law as well as the UN Charter among other Treaties.
Final Remarks
Without audacity of morality as manifested by the leaderships of Pedro Sanchez, Pope Leo XIV and the Irish Prime Minister, the global terrain with its billions of human populations will be ushered into a tumultuous epoch where the poor, the marginalised, children, women and the elderly would suffer the brunt of two megalomanic leaders. As in recent blogs, this post calls on the African continent and its political leadership to take serious cues from these developments to devise forward-looking strategies and capacities to build their socioeconomic and political structures with little reliance on external sources. This requires sustainable partnership agreements with local universities with dedicated funding schemes in that regard.
